7/24/17: In Colorado, Medicaid is reducing the amount of opioids that can be prescribed. They say this is to fight drug addiction and overdose. Disabled people say these pain medicines are important to their daily lives. [4]

Register to vote here. The deadline is 8 days before Election Day. Same-day in-person registration is available on Election Day. Bring proof of identification the first time you vote. A non-photo ID is requested every time you vote in person.[7]

House Republicans and Democrats have named their targeted seats for the 2018 elections. Midterm elections are typically very challenging for the party in control of the federal government. Only presidents with job approval ratings above 50% have been able to stave off losses.[8] Since 1982, the party in control has lost an average of 28 seats,[9] so the Democrats would seem to be at an advantage. Republicans, however, are optimistic, noting that Democrats have had great difficulty getting their voters to turn out for midterm elections.[10]

If there is a full repeal of the Affordable Care Act, 531,000 people in Colorado (or 9.7% of the population) are estimated to lose coverage, whereas 588,000 people (or 10.8% of the population) will lose coverage with a partial repeal. (Retrieved 1/25/2017 from ACA Repeal Impact, state-by-state.) This is because with a full repeal, premiums will not increase the way they would under a partial repeal, since insurance companies will be able to discriminate on the basis of preexisting conditions and won't be required to provide essential health benefits.[16] Not covering preexisting conditions will disproportionately affect people with disabilities.

The number of uninsured people in Colorado is predicted to be 447,000 by 2021, under the ACA. Without the ACA, that number is expected to rise to 888,000, a 98.6% increase.[17]

Colorado is among the states that lost the ability to place lifetime limits on coverage, because that practice is banned by the ACA; those limits are likely to be reinstated under a full repeal.[18]

Given that a repeal of the ACA would also change payment structures and subsidies, 39,000 jobs could be lost in Colorado. When federal funding is cut, it creates a ripple effect that affects local and state revenue, thus creating losses in economic activity and employment.[19]

Several Colorado hospitals, especially those in rural areas, are likely to have to downsize or close in the case of a repeal.[20]

Under the ACA Repeal-and-Delay Strategy, young adults in Colorado could pay $616 more in 2018.[21]

Denver is a sanctuary city. The Denver police department released a statement[29] in the wake of Trump's election saying that it does not plan to participate in federal immigration enforcement. About 9% of the city's budget, $175 million, is at risk of being cut off by the Trump administration.

Legislators in Colorado have introduced legislation that would limit the early voting period.[30] Colorado does not currently allow automatic voter registration, and has no pending legislation to do so.

Black people in Colorado were disproportionately given citations, arrested and given prison sentences in 2015.[32]

Marijuana arrest rates have risen dramatically for young black and Latino residents in Colorado since legalization. While the marijuana arrest rate for white 10- to 17-year-olds fell by 10% from 2012 to 2014, arrest rates for Latino and black youths rose more than 20% and more than 50%, respectively.[33]

The Department of Corrections has given a contract to prison communications company GTL, to create a tablet program that will at some point be used in all of the state's prisons.[34]. The tablets will be given to all the inmates for free, but inmates will have to pay to make calls, use email, and play games. Incarcerated people have disproportionately lower incomes[35] and their families are often low-income[36], so this program will add more financial stress to prisoners' lives.[37]

In 2015, an average of 233,113 households and 495,134 individuals received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits (SNAP, formerly called Food Stamps) in any given month in Colorado.[39] In 2011, approximately 9% of the population of Colorado was receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits (SNAP, formerly called Food Stamps).[40] The average monthly benefit per Colorado household was $272 per household and $126 per person in 2016.[41]

In 2016, an average of 43,317 households received Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), which is direct financial assistance, in any given month.[42] The average monthly benefit for a single parent with three children residing in Colorado was $462 in 2014.[43] Average benefits in Colorado have fallen in value by 14.9% since 1996.[44]

In December 2015, there were 9,332 Social Security recipients in the "aged" category,[45] receiving an average of $416.95 per person, for a total of $3,891,000.[46]

Colorado’s infrastructure received a score of C+ from the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2010.[54]

This study gave the state “good” scores for air quality, aviation and solid waste, and identified energy, transit, roads and education as being in “poor” condition.[55]

In 2013, the Department of Transportation found that 16.7% of Colorado’s bridges were structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, and 70% of Colorado’s roads were in poor or mediocre condition.[56]

Driving on these roads leads to an additional $287 per motorist per year in increased vehicle repairs and operating costs.[57]

Policy

According to Governor John Hickenlooper (D), increasing highway capacity is a major infrastructure goal for Colorado.[58]

In Denver, new commuter rail lines will start operating later this year as part of the FasTracks project.[59]

In 2014, 16,700 people reported one or more domestic violence crimes to law enforcement. Many other victims/survivors did not contact law enforcement.

In 2014, 25 people were killed by former or current intimate partners; almost 70% of those were killed with guns.

In 2014, 1,018 people were abducted by current or former intimate partners. More than half were abducted by current or former dating partners.

In a 2014 survey of 78% of domestic violence programs in Colorado, it was discovered that on the day of the survey, the participating programs reported serving 904 victims/survivors; 163 were turned away due to lack of resources.

Colorado does not have any religious freedom laws. Religious Freedom laws protect the right of people to practice their religion and limit laws imposing on that right, and were intended to protect religious minorities. However, after same-sex marriage was legalized, conservative states have attempted to enact similar laws with provisions that allow discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals.[66]

Colorado has passed nondiscrimination laws protecting LGBTQ+ people from discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations, education, foster care, insurance, credit, jury selection and state employment, but not for adoption.[67]

Colorado state legislature failed to pass a law protecting minors from conversion therapy in March 2017.[68]

Colorado has passed nondiscrimination laws protecting LGBTQ+ people from discrimination in second-parent adoption and laws granting parental presumption and de facto parent recognition for same-sex couples. The state has not passed surrogacy laws, nor laws prohibiting discrimination in foster care, and does not have a law on consent to inseminate (meaning that in case of the insemination of one member of a female same-sex couple, the partner not carrying the child is not automatically recognized as parent).[69]

Colorado has passed anti-bullying laws covering cyberbullying and directly mentioning LGBTQ+ youth, and does require transgender inclusion in sports, LGBTQ+ inclusive sex education and LGBTQ+ inclusive juvenile justice policies. It does not have laws requiring school suicide prevention policies, protecting against conversion therapy, or addressing LGBTQ+ youth homelessness.[71] A bill that would have banned conversion therapy for minors died in the Senate in March 2017.[72]

Colorado does include LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination protections in ACA exchanges, collects data on LGBTQ+ health and bans insurance exclusion for trans health care. It does not include transgender healthcare in state Medicaid or inclusive health benefits for trans state employees. The state allows gender marker changes on drivers' licenses but not birth certificates, and has passed HIV/AIDS criminalization laws.[73]

Colorado considered a so-called “bathroom bill” in 2015, but it was not enacted.[74]

In March 2017, the Colorado Senate voted down a law that would have prohibited conversion therapy for minors.[75]

Colorado is ranked 41st in the US per-pupil spending as of 2013, with an average expenditure of $5,036 per student.[76]

As of 2013, Colorado ranked 31st in teacher pay, with teachers earning an average of $49,844 per year.[77]

90% of students in Colorado attend public schools. As is the case in other states, students who attend private schools come from wealthier families, with private school families earning an average 54% higher income.[78]

As of 2014, public charter school enrollment accounted for 10.9% of total public school enrollment.[79]

Colorado's overall graduation rate is 77%, which is slightly above the national average. By subgroups, four-year graduation rates are as follows:

Colorado is a state with no Right-to-Work laws, which means that the state can not prohibit unions, that collectively bargain on behalf of both members and nonmembers, from requiring union fees for the services they provide to all workers they represent. They are designed to reduce unions' income and power.[85]

Colorado is a state with an at-will exemption.[86] "At-will" means that an employer can terminate an employee at any time for any reason, except an illegal one, or for no reason, without breaking the law.[87] Likewise, an employee is free to leave a job at any time for any or no reason, with no adverse legal consequences.[88]

Colorado also has a public policy exemption,[89] meaning that an employer may not fire an employee if it would violate the state's public policy doctrine or a state or federal statute, including refusing to perform an act that state law prohibits (e.g., refusing an employer's request to commit perjury at a trial), reporting a violation of the law (e.g., reporting an employer's fraudulent accounting practices or use of child labor), engaging in acts that are in the public interest (e.g., joining the National Guard or performing jury duty) and exercising a statutory right (e.g., filing a claim under the state workers' compensation law).[90]

Colorado does allow for implied contract exemptions[91]. An implied contract can be created in several different ways: oral assurances by a supervisor; or handbooks, policies or practices as written assurances by the employer. This means that if there is no written contract between the employer and employee, that employee may have an exception of fixed term or even indefinite employment based on an employer's statements.[92] As a general rule, courts disregard language promising long-term, lifetime or permanent employment as aspirational and consider the relationship to be at-will.[93]

Colorado does not support the Implied Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing.[94] Courts have interpreted the Covenant in different ways, from requiring just cause for termination to prohibiting terminations made in bad faith or motivated by malice.[95]

The Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment is responsible for protecting and maintaining the environmental health of the state, among other duties.[101].

Governor Hickenlooper signed an executive order saying that Colorado will join the Paris Climate Agreement.[102] One of the goals is to reduce greenhouse gases by 26% by 2025. He also said Colorado will work with Nevada and Utah to make it easier to drive electric cars from the West all the way to the Pacific Coast.

In August 2016, EPA awarded more than $710,000 to reimburse (repay) state, tribal, and local response costs for actions taken in Colorado and Utah associated with the August 5, 2015 Gold King Mine release near Silverton, CO. This was an incident where an EPA team investigating the Gold King Mine accidentally caused the mine to release 3 million gallons of acidic, mine-influenced waters. This eventually flowed down to the San Juan River, potentially contaminating the drinking water in Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah.[103][104]The reimbursement was in line with the EPA’s responsibilities and the requirements under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) or Superfund.

In May 2016, the EPA awarded Brownfields assessment funds in the amount of $200,000 to Metro West Housing Solutions of Lakewood, CO, and $206,000 to the Colorado Department of Local Affairs in Bent County, CO. [105] These were among a series of grants issued to EPA Region 8 states under the agency’s Brownfields program. The Brownsfield program aims to help communities clean up and reuse vacant and abandoned properties for new services.[106]

In May 2016, EPA awarded a $1.95 million water research grant to Colorado School of Mines. The grant was awarded to fund development of tools to help communities evaluate alternative stormwater treatment technologies and improve stormwater runoff management. [107]

28% of Colorado residents with disabilities are employed, while 68% are not in the labor force. These figures are almost completely reversed for Colorado residents without a disability.[109]

According to 2015 figures, 30% of individuals with disabilities in Colorado were below 150% of the federal poverty line at some point during the preceding year, compared to 17% of the Colorado population with no disability.[110]

Colorado's VOTE! program, developed in the wake of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA),[111] conducts outreach to Colorado residents living with disabilities or mental illness and/or experiencing homelessness to make voter registration more accessible and to remove any technical barriers that individuals face in the voting process.[112]

Individuals living with disabilities in Colorado are protected from discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Fair Housing Act, and the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act. [113].

In Colorado's prison system, it is illegal for correctional officers to place individuals with mental illness in solitary confinement.[114]. Colorado law also guarantees individuals living with mental illness who are detained pre-trial the right to treatment within a month of arrest.[115]

Some individuals living with disabilities are eligible for health-care benefits through both Colorado's MediCare and MediCaid programs, but navigating dual eligibility can be difficult. To reduce barriers to care, the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF) and the Centers for Medicare/Medicaid Services (CMS) started an Accountable Care Collaborative (ACC) Medicare/Medicaid Program that strives to improve care coordination for dually eligible individuals. Colorado is one of 12 states in the nation participating in the program.[116]